John Kasich Campaigns on the Coast

John Kasich’s message loud and clear today: he’s not a quitter and is looking to gain momentum, especially as the campaigning heads to his home state. The GOP presidential hopeful was rallying this morning in Gulfport. “It’s a national campaign, but frankly I wanna come here, because I love Mississippi!”

Hundreds of people greeted the Ohio governor with trademark southern hospitality. Kasich addressed issues felt right here in Mississippi, such as veterans affairs, as well as the nation’s mounting debt. Kasich also shared his agenda for creating jobs across the nation.

Today, he spoke directly to members of the Gulfport Youth Build program, a group of 16 to 24 year-olds working to get a second chance, after dropping out of school. Kasich shared his own personal testimony, hoping to encourage them to follow their career dreams as well. “That’s how I got into this presidential campaign. I just kept putting one step in front of the other, and what could be better than that?”

Kasich’s visit comes a little more than a month after Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, packed Biloxi’s coast coliseum with thousands of people back in January. Some have speculated over whether Kasich should drop out of the race, especially after Trump’s recent strong showings in South Carolina and other states. When questioned by a Mississippian on whether there’s a chance he could beat Trump, Kasich brought up the point that he’s the only one known to beat trump in another state.

“I beat him head to head by 18 points in Ohio. Do that, and the whole race begins to change. So we’re just going to do that and keep pluggin!”